Various dry material dispersers have heretofore been utilized in various industrial mixing applications (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,071,289 and 5,171,090, and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2005/0111298 and 2005/0058020). Such devices are typically designed to accommodate particular dry materials and operations, thus lacking adaptability to various other operations or dry materials.
For example, polymer materials used in flocculation processing of liquids may be provided in a variety of shapes and sizes (for example, in bead/pellet form, dust form or crystal form). Moreover, processing may demand various feed and material mass flow rate distribution for successful makeup. One example is current fast oilfield drilling operations, where high throughput rate polymer make-up would be quite desirable for existing closed loop solids control flocculation operations in order to keep pace with modern drilling rigs' high rate of penetration. For industrial applications, furthermore, polymer make-up systems must be durable and, particularly for outdoor operations such as oilfield applications, simple to operate and maintain, with as few component and moving parts as possible
Heretofore, however, high rate polymer make-up systems have included mechanically complex auger conveying systems comprising a feeder bin, chain driven conveyor screw, bearings, gearbox, motor, agitation paddles, bin vibrator, safety screen, speed control, complex electrical circuits and switches, and separate dry polymer eductor(s) and dispersal/wetting system. These systems have not proven altogether useful, particularly for oilfield and other remote construction site applications, having been characterized in such application by higher down time, life cycle cost and maintenance frequencies.